Millennia: Eye of the Storm
Millennia: Eye of the Storm is a dark military sci-fi drama story by Thunderblast, a direct sequel to Millennia: Beginning, and the second story of the Millennia Saga. Plot After being ordered to two-week medical leave, Star Shooter struggles with nightmares and stress created by recent traumatizing events. On his fourth day, Star heads out to get something to eat when he bumps into Rose. The two talk for a moment, and then leave. He goes to a local cafe, and while waiting in line, he is stopped by a curious pony who asks him numerous questions, which then causes Star to turn on the pony and go into a small outburst in which startles the whole place. When Star realizes his mistake, he goes to apologize, but is then bombarded by multiple ponies. He wakes up from a nightmare, fully accepting he needs help. The following day, Star writes a letter to his commanding officer, also his friend, informing him on his progress during leave. He lays back down, then out of the blue is struck with yet another nightmare. When he wakes back up, it is dinner time, and he heads out to go grocery shopping, only to find it closed, and that it was actually morning. He goes to the cafe where he had his 'outburst', despite it being a dream, and is confronted by a royal guard, and then Ray Blitz, a pegasus he met just days earlier in Whitetail Woods. The two discuss plans, and later determine to hang out with one another at Star's apartment. Star prepares for the night, then when Ray comes, the two relax and watch a movie, when Star finds himself in the middle of another panic attack. This time, Ray comforts him in a way Star never expected would help. Leave passes, and Star returns to Manehattan, immediately checking in with Doctor Haywalker. He explains to the doctor about what had happened while he was on leave, and Haywalker refers him to a psychologist in the city to further help his situation. After the appointment, Star returns to the barracks, laying back down in bed. He encounters yet another nightmare, but it is cut short when he wakes up. He heads into Manehattan, locating the psychologist's office and checking in to see the mare. He enters the mare's office, being introduced as Doctor Pastel, and the two talk for a bit as an introduction. Star initially feels iffy about her, but warms up when Pastel learns Haywalker sent him. That evening, Star lays in bed reading a book while his roommate, Nightpath, cooks dinner. The two reconcile in discussion. The following day, Sergeant Hardstaff hosts a meeting that informs the platoon about a battle simulation taking place at Fort Fetlock, an Equestrian Army base near the city, and the rest are sent back to prepare for their departure, which would last just over a week. During a ruck run at the base, Star meets a soldier from Appleloosa and befriends him. Days later, the Marines are brought to the practice range for live fire exercises. While operating machine guns, Star experiences a nightmare out of the blue and comes to find out he did not shoot at all. They then switch to grenades, which Star quite nearly accidentally kills everypony after smacking his hoof into Ash's when preparing to toss. Ash jumps atop the grenade after fumbling to reinsert the pin, relieved when the grenade does not explode. Embarrassed, Star parts himself from the others and stays in the tent. There, Ash confronts him, and Star lies about feeling fine after the incident earlier. At night, they are awoken by an alarm that an air raid is imminent, only to learn signals had been crossed and it was a false alarm. At the end of the week, Star says his goodbyes to Skillshot before him and the other Marines return to Manehattan. Once back, he visits Pastel for a follow-up appointment. Back on base, Nightpath informs Star of Hardstaff, as well as Shadow requesting him at the conference room. There, the two hire Star to aid with investigating mysterious earthquakes around Manehattan. Days later, Star receives a letter from Ray, who states he will be in Manehattan soon, and upon realizing the message was sent days ago, he scrambles to meet Ray at the train station, but he does not come. He becomes worried, and goes out for a walk, only to bump into him at a construction site by accident, learning he arrived by airplane rather. The two go off to spend Hearts & Hooves Day together. In the days that follow, Star attends Shadow's pre-deployment briefing, where he among other crew members learn of mysterious energy signals originating from the ocean, where they are to sail out to in order to investigate. Star and Sea Watch are assigned to plot the fleet's course over the next week, when Night informs Star that him, Anchorage, Ash, and Silver are headed to Valor Lake to visit Solar's grave. The group comes across his grave upon arriving, where Star sulks the most and goes through a boot camp flashback (not featured in Beginning, and was done to fix plot holes) of a time when Solar helped him out in the gas chamber. After some time, the group heads out to eat and then to a motel, where Star and Anchorage talk outside in the rain. By the time they return to Manehattan, Star finally finishes his work. At the end of the week, Star and Nightpath leave their barrack and gather beside the Eclipse along with Anchorage, Ashfall, and Silver Edge, where accidentally, Star learns of Anchorage's past regarding his parents, primarily his father. They board the ship and later sail out of the harbor along with the rest of the Lunar Fleet. Later on, Star apologizes to Anchorage, and the two talk over dinner. Anchorage then reveals a form of communication through specialized computers aboard the ship for sailors to use, and Star video calls Ray. Although, as Star heads back to his bunk room, he is ambushed by a sailor named Rondache, accusing him for hiding his relationship with Ray from Anchorage and forces him to sleep with chloroform. Star comes to, not realizing what had happened, and shrugs off his mysterious slumber. He reports to the bridge for work, just as the Eclipse sails into a tropical cyclone which is named by the fleet as Aquarius. While sailing through high seas, a distress call from a nearby ship is sent out, and is picked up by the fleet. It is found out that the ship has lost propulsion and is threatening to be swamped by rogue waves. Shadow then orders Star, Anchorage, Night, Silver, Ash, and Ash's squad leader, Sunset Haze, to fly out via helicopter to the stricken tanker to repair its communications array and restart its engines. They stand by as Anchorage sets up a tracking beacon to put the ship back on regional radar, and then head down to the engine room while Nightpath stays put with the remaining crew. On their way down, they discover pools of blood mysteriously in the halls, but no bodies. Continuing on into the engine room, they soon find it to be wired with explosives on a remote detonator that must be disarmed immediately. Sunset manages to disable the bombs, but before they can relax, they are ambushed by strange figures silhouetted by the dark. While running up-deck, the ship is thrown onto a shoal where it becomes temporarily beached until the waves can capsize it. This causes the group to be taken down by a thrown flashbang, but they are miraculously spared by the figures and left behind. They pull through, returning to the bridge to collect Night and the crew as the chopper loops around for emergency extract, right as the ship tears in two and is taken under violent seas mere moments after everypony boards the helicopter. Back on the Eclipse, the group--especially Sunset--is treated for any injuries sustained, but Sunset is expected to be decommissioned for some time, much to Ash's dismay. The Eclipse returns to Manehattan, and Star pays a visit to Pastel. During the appointment, a tremor shakes the office, startling Star and setting off an anxiety attack, which Pastel manages to quell before it worsens. Days later, Star prepares for an opening party in the penthouse of a new skyscraper recently finished in the city. He heads in to the geology office early for a short shift, discovering there to be no recent activity, in spite of the quake he felt at Doctor Pastel's office. That night, him and Nightpath get dressed and head out, where they, along with Anchorage, Ash, and Silver, are brought to the tower and up to the top floor, where countless other soldiers, sailors, and Marines have gathered to enjoy the party. The group splits up, mainly to head to the bar, while Star finds Shadow to talk to casually for once. Meanwhile, Arc Nobis sneaks through some of the lower floors, searching for a server room. Star and Shadow are talking when the GenTech CEO hosting the grand opening party, Armet Mace, speaks. After his speech, he immediately comes to Shadow, where the two passive-aggressively discuss the construction of a new aircraft carrier for Shadow to command, whom adamantly declines. Down below, Arc breaches a server room and downloads files, before escaping without anyone noticing. The party soon winds down and everyone heads home. The next day, Star prepares his and Night's dorm for inspections due to take place later on. After a rat bite while cleaning the bathroom, he heads to the medic ward on base, where he is administered shots as a precautionary measure. He heads back to continue cleaning when Anchorage asks Star to accompany him on a grocery store trip in preparation for a game evening. Nightpath, on his way to their dorm after work, offers to finish cleaning for Star while they shop. When Star and Anchorage return from the store, after a quiet discussion about suspicions of theirs, a blackout has struck Bronclyn and is affecting Joint Base Manehattan. They part ways, and later on, Star heads out to the geology office for his shift. He is about to leave when he discovers a badly injured Aphrodite on the floor in the office and attempts to treat her wounds before carrying her outside, where medics had set up to treat multiple Marines and sailors injured in an attack. Star discovers from military police that others are still inside the building, where the unknown assailant is lurking, and he ventures back in to locate them. He comes across a small group of Marines in a lab, along with a bloody corpse, and Star is almost mistaken for the attacker. Star hears a noise, heading out into the hall to check it out, when he sees an eye in the dark. He soon realizes the attacker to be Arc Nobis and, in two close calls, manages to snap him out of a trance he was in long enough for authorities to apprehend him. Later that week, Arc is put on trial for his actions, and Princess Luna is brought in from Canterlot as part of the jury. Because it is confirmed to have been him as the assailant, a sentence is definite. However, the trial and the stories of witnesses goes on, before Star steps out of the room for a breather. He is confronted by Hardstaff who informs him of a promotion for him for taking down Arc, and is given money both as a reward, and a late signing bonus he never received. Star attempts to decline, but is forced to accept as he returns to the courtroom, where new information brought in by a lawyer determines Arc's fate: suspension of rank and a mental institution rather than prison or execution. A few days later, Night asks Star to accompany him, Anchorage, and Ashfall to a major event in Coltlumbus, Star's home town. After some time to decide, he settles with going after finally opening the letter from the Head of the Marine Corps. Star goes to Hardstaff to take the time off, before venturing out to Coltlumbus. Back in Manehattan, Arc Nobis is confronted by Armet Mace in the mental facility after he paid his bail unexpectedly. Arriving in Coltlumbus, Star and his friends head downtown to their hotel. When waiting for them to come downstairs, Star is suddenly come across by his parents whom he has not seen for five years. Star is immediately hostile toward them--mainly his father, Star Scraper--when his friends show up to prevent a fight between them. Much to Star's chagrin, they agree to go to dinner with his parents. Star hesitantly talks to them about his current life, by which his parents are shocked to discover he is a Marine. Eventually, the stress of their questions becomes too much, and Star walks out around the restaurant to breathe, when he is confronted by his father. The two fight, and his father pins him, about to start beating him up, when Diamond Spice--Star's mother--discovers them and forces his father off of him. His father continues to show immense disrespect to the point where Star throws a violent punch to his throat, before storming off, fuming. Ash, Anchorage, and Night soon catch up in downtown along the riverfront where Star finally unloads on them for destroying his mood on the trip. Being primarily at fault, Ash and Anchorage apologize. After a talk, the four settle down to watch the sunset, proceeding to mention a late Solar Wave when doing so. A day later, storms come to Coltlumbus and keep them inside. Star simultaneously comes down with a sudden sickness, which he assumes to have been contracted from his father, and is forced to sit out ConFest at the hotel. A fireworks show causes Star to experience a major panic attack, by which he decides it is time to put an end to the stress. He talks to Night about becoming more vigorous with Pastel, but also learning that she had been lying about making money through Star's insurance and that she is gravely at risk of going out of business after six months of not receiving payment from Star. By the end of the week, they return to Manehattan. During this time, Arc is taken to GenTech Tower, where he is forced to go through tests against his will. The morning preceding deployment, Star wakes after another heavy dream. Unable to fall back asleep, he prepares for the day ahead, followed by Nightpath who wakes up a bit later. The two head out before 6 AM to the pier where crew members were gathering ahead of boarding, and Star steps onto the ship to get ready. A day later, Star is taking part in a mass cleaning session around the ship. When he finishes mopping the berthing floors, he comes across Silver Edge, being lectured by his chief. He briefly leaves, waiting for the chief to walk away, before returning to his friend and finally speaking to him, at last hearing Silver's reasoning for leaving the Marines for a switch to the Navy (as abruptly told during a pre-deployment briefing). He is then caught off guard when he learns that Silver has discovered his secret, and that he is seeing Ray. Star lets the conversation carry on as he tries to explain to Silver that he is simply confused and does not truly understand his friendship with Ray. While they are talking, an alarm goes off, signalling a pony has fallen overboard. Almost every sailor and Marine on the ship gathers in the hangar bay for name calling and are forced to wait hours before learning news of whether or not it was a false alarm. The news comes in the form of a PA-system announcement by the captain, who proudly states that the sailor is now safe and being brought back to the ship. Two weeks later, Star is sitting with Ashfall in the commons quarters, watching Anchorage and his fellow division shipmate, Gallant, play ping-pong intensely. Ash, having heard that Star spoke to Silver Edge recently, questions him on it. Anchorage picks up on their conversation whilst playing and mentions how he had known long before that Silver would make the transfer to the Navy and also abruptly winning the match, shocking Star and Ash, before leaving to return to his duties. The Eclipse is approaching the first of the beacons when it is suddenly struck by a surfacing submarine which, when Star looks down on his radar screen, notices eight approaching warships. Just then, a transmission comes through on the radio from one of the ships. Shadow returns the call and is met with passive hostility by the admiral of an Ajerstanian fleet in the vicinity of the Lunar fleet. He shuts the admiral down, and in turn raises the alert condition on the ship in preparation for an assault, which he claims "could happen at any time" due to the nature of Ajerstan toward Equestria. After his shift, shaken from the message and the submarine collision, Star lays in his rack, unable to sleep. He gets up and heads to the communications room to make contact with Ray, but is unable to, further adding to his stress. Two weeks later, Star stands in the laundromat, washing his uniforms when a mare sailor from CIC joins him with her own load of laundry. He talks with Lemoore about the looming situation, and how Tacimo was withholding information regarding Ajerstan's presence at sea. In the engineering portion of the ship, Nightpath discovers a fault with the reactor powering the ship, and that there is a coolant leak leading to an overheat. Him and his fellow reactor engineers are forced to scram the reactor, which leads to the ship's loss of propulsion, causing them to go dead in the water. This mounts concern among the bridge crew, recognizing that this puts them at high risk for attack by the Ajerstanian fleet, as it is assumed that they are following the Eclipse and its sister vessels. Star returns to his berthing at the end of the day, more stressed than ever. He proceeds to lock himself in the berthing chamber and repeatedly slam his head into the bulkhead in a meager attempt to kill himself to put an end to his state of distress, in turn only causing injury to his forehead. He is only stopped when Silver Edge bursts in to calm him. Just then, they are approached by Rondache, who makes subtle attempts to subdue Star. He recognizes Rondache mere moments before he attempts to knock him unconscious, only to be stopped by Silver, who breaks his hoof and launches him through multiple compartments with a powerful burst of magic. Silver is later confronted by his chief, two master chiefs, and Shadow in his office. Star interrupts to explain for Silver and his actions, resulting in the tables turning on Rondache, who is then questioned by Shadow. He willingly admits his crimes and is dishonorably discharged in front of them all. Silver is also punished for the damages caused. After all exit, leaving Star alone with Shadow, the two share a moment together, with Star questioning if he is good enough for his job. Just then, Tacimo enters, announcing his resignation once they return to port. That night, Star encounters two nightmares in a row. He resumes his duties on the bridge, where matters turn for the worse; Vernon, the communications officer of the bridge, receives an order from Command instructing the fleet to engage with the Ajerstanian vessels nearby. Shadow, reluctant to believe the mysterious command through morse code, tries to get a hold of Canterlot for confirmation when the Eclipse's sister ships begin turning to Shadow for further orders. Tensions rise when the Lacus takes aim for the Ajeri flagship, prompting Shadow to activate jammers to buy them time to work out the situation. As a result, the Ajeri ships maneuver dangerously close to the Lunar Fleet to engage with conventional firearms. The Lacus and Gibbous alert Shadow of an ordered strike against the Ajerstanian capital, which would result in the deaths of millions. Shadow finally gets a hold of Canterlot (speaking to Princess Celestia herself by accident) to confirm the false order, allowing the self-destruction of the launched ICBMs at Ajerstan and an armistice to be put into place. In wake of the incident, the Eclipse ''is finally operational again and sets course for home. Star and Anchorage talk over a hull catwalk, Anchorage disposing of a cigarette he was smoking as a show of quitting. Anchorage mentions the suspicious nature of the mission to the ''Alder that night and vows to prove to Star that something else is in play. Back in Equestria, Star retreats to Canterlot, where he meets up with Ray and learns of his audition for a popular entertainment talk show based out of Manehattan. To calm his nerves, Star takes Ray out to dinner, only for them to be shunned by the restaurant owner for being an unofficial couple, leading to an emotional breakdown which Ray steps in to help make the night less awful than how it started out to be. Meanwhile, Arc Nobis' conscience is forcibly removed from his body and replaced with an artificial intelligence built into a supersoldier suit of armor he wore. The next day, Star is informed by Hardstaff of a heightened security presence around Manehattan; the princesses have called for a diplomatic meeting between Equestria and Ajerstan to work out a peace following the scuffle at sea. After saying his temporary goodbyes to Ray as he heads home, Star returns to Manehattan to be briefed by Hardstaff with the rest of his squadron. Later on, Suldur and Buchard--two of Ajerstan's diplomats--arrive by plane in Manehattan, along with Admiral Gantry, the naval officer responsible for the commanding ship to have attacked the Lunar Fleet weeks prior. Star and his squadron are assigned to escort detail for the diplomats, bringing them to an international embassy and later to a private dinner hosted by Princess Twilight Sparkle, who personally steps outside to thank the Lunar Marines for their service. In the following days, tensions are high as the summit meeting approaches. At the United World of Countries complex, Star, Nightpath, and their fellow Marines are assigned inside the Citadel (the meeting room for countries belonging to the program) while Silver Edge and Anchorage, among other sailors, soldiers, and Marines, take up security surrounding the premises. The meeting begins, and shortly after it does, Silver takes notice of mysterious figures entering a building across the street in a restricted area. He abandons his post to investigate and is subsequently nearly shot in the back of the head upon discovering the snipers watching over the meeting to be missing, but is saved by Anchorage. A gunfight erupts in the tower they are in, sparking alarm on the ground and in the UWC. Just then, a sniper shot rings out and Buchard is gravely injured. Enemies posing as royal guards begin shooting up the UWC and the area is evacuated. The citadel is cleared of hostiles and, protected by a shield made by Twilight, is evacuated to shelters until the all clear is given. Consul Buchard is rushed to an area hospital, where he is expected to be okay. Silver Edge feels guilt after abandoning his post, but is commended by Hardstaff for his actions after interrogation. A week later, Shadow brings Star to the bridge of the Eclipse where he learns that, much to Star's dismay, GenTech is refitting the ship with updated technology in wake of the incident at sea that left them blind to the Ajeri ships. That evening, Star has a brief panic attack, prompting him to see Haywalker. Star later goes out with Anchorage for a round of drinks and to watch a hockey game. On their way home, they come across a stallion in the alleyway, dying. They discover it to be the captain of the Alder, who dies from apparent poisoning, but not before citing the slogan of GenTech. When calling for help, Star is knocked down by an unknown assailant. Anchorage rushes to help, but is quickly subdued. He is left, while Star is taken away under the veil of night. After waking back up some time later, Anchorage rushes to Ashfall's aid to report the occurrence (this is written after the following paragraph). Armet Mace hosts a tour of a new project of GenTech: a flying warship, named Vengeance. The tour is controversial to the high-ranking officers brought along, especially Shadow. Meanwhile, Star comes to a couple of days following his kidnapping, in an abandoned desert warehouse and is captured once more after searching for a way out. Back in Manehattan, Anchorage is interrogated by Shadow himself, and is later brought to a more private location for discussion in order to avoid detection. Star is brought down to the basement, where he discovers other members of the military to be held hostage and tortured. The leader of the group holding Star and the others hostage is suddenly familiar, noting his prosthetic hoof; being a pony Ray knows. This prompts him to execute Star by hooking him to an IV bag of pure alcohol, which would slowly put him to sleep until he dies of intoxication, where he is rescued by Snow Storm and his squadron and just narrowly saved from death. After a procedure which removes the alcohol from Star's blood, he realizes his surroundings and begins collecting intel in the building, noting how it belongs to GenTech. Snow brings Star to the other Lunar Marine base located near Los Pegasus to warn Shadow and the other high-ranking officials back in Manehattan of a terror plot planned by Armet Mace against the city. Efforts are made to deploy a pair of ships to search and destroy a device that would trigger an earthquake. The next day, Silver Edge and Anchorage deploy to sea on the Gibbous; Star calls Anchorage before taking off from Los Pegasus to let him know of his safety; Nightpath and Ashfall, informed by Anchorage immediately after, head to GenTech Tower to confront Armet themselves and are attacked by his guards, but manage to reach his office. Anchorage helps Silver find his long lost uncle, a chief petty officer aboard the ship. Just as Night and Ash reach Armet, the device under the ocean activates, triggering an earthquake that effectively cripples Manehattan. The plane Star and Snow are on is shot down when Armet hacks into one of the ships at sea, firing off a missile that collides with the wing. Upon bailing from the falling transport jet, Star is forced to use his wings to bring himself down safely when his parachute snaps. Split up from Snow Storm and the rest of his team, Star heads into the city to help with efforts. Out at sea, after disengaging all weapons systems following the hack, the captain of the Gibbous communicates with an Ajeri submarine lurking nearby, where it fires upon the device and triggers a massive explosion that destroys the sub, inadvertently sets off another stronger tremor in Manehattan that Star becomes caught up in, and creates a massive tidal wave in which the two ships are carried back to shore (unable to escape due to the device's destruction triggering an EMP). At GenTech Tower, Ashfall and Nightpath help with evacuation efforts. In the chaos, Night is injured by falling debris when pushing a frightened mare out of the way. In the streets of Manehattan, Star helps with emergency efforts at a makeshift camp, when news arrives of the approaching tsunami. Prince Shining Armor, still in the city following the attempted assassination at the summit meeting, gathers unicorns at Batterneigh Park to form a massive forcefield to protect the city and the millions still trapped in the area from the expected hundred-foot-high wave. A curious Star, after successfully helping evacuate injured victims from the camp, ventures to the park to witness the shield's formation as the harbor empties into the growing surf, trapping ponies on boats that became beached but manage to get out of the way in time as the tsunami crashes into the barrier. It barely holds, even as the Gibbous ''is smashed forcefully against the barrier and begins to sink, but Manehattan is saved from further destruction. Watching from his shelter, Armet orders the start of the next stage of his plan. After getting Nightpath to medical personnel, Ashfall volunteers to move civilians onto ferries that will bring them to the joint base and off the island, where it is deemed safest. He meets a shaken Anchorage and Silver Edge there, who tell him that after their ship struck the barrier, the entire crew abandoned ship for refuge on dry land. As they reconcile, an unexpected missile flies above, destroying the ferry carrying a number of civilians and killing most of its passengers. Angered and distraught from having ordered a news anchor and his camerapony onto the boat who perished minutes later, Ashfall throws a guilty tantrum in a nearby diner in front of Silver and Anchorage, when suddenly the ground shakes. Star, once more alone in the streets of Manehattan, is suddenly grabbed by a small group of griffon operatives who, after some explanation to prove their loyalty (only after Star figures out that they were the griffons on the tanker that attacked them months prior), are in the city with a similar mission: to stop Armet's plan before it can fully go through. Suddenly, a large mech in the shape of a pony zaps unicorns of their magical essence and vaporizes a defending police officer. Star's phone rings aloud from Ray attempting to call him from the studio, which Zjitzo (the griffon leader) destroys to keep them hidden from detection. Angered, Star personally attacks the mech, but his efforts do nothing to bring it down. A fight ensues, resulting in the disintegration of one of Zjitzo's squad mates, and Star making use of a carriage door to reflect the drone's energy beam back at itself to destroy it. Zjitzo, managing to get Star to agree to accompanying them, leads him and his group to the Museum of Equestrian History to formulate a new plan. Taking some time to eat, they are suddenly (and briefly) attacked by a corrupted Arc Nobis, who attempts to kill Star, but is brought down by an electrical shock that also manages to reset his conscience back to his real self. He then warns the group of Armet's intent, before departing to turn himself in to avoid harming anyone else. Zjitzo then leads the group to an unused subway tunnel beneath the museum, which will bring them across the river to where Star is trying to go. At the same time, a massive gunfight erupts in Midtown as Lunar Marines and sailors attempt to fight back against a rapidly-advancing army of GenTech drones. Below the surface, Zjitzo, Star, and the rest of the griffonian troops overhear a radio SOS, leading to debate whether they should help or not. Zjitzo elects to keep going, much to Star's dismay, when the group reach a dead end in the rail tunnel. They enter a service passageway, which is peculiarly untouched from the quakes, and stumble across a hidden monorail that leads them to a GenTech warehouse in Bronclyn. They are ambushed by Armet's goons when attempting to torch the place and are pinned down, when help arrives in the form of Snow Storm's squadron, with Ashfall, Anchorage, and Silver Edge tagging along. Snow and Zjitzo reconcile, revealing that the two are acquaintances who commonly run joint operations with one another. After evacuating the premises, the warehouse is rigged to explode, and the group watch it go up in flames. Over a radio transmission, word is received of a hostage situation at the Equestria Today studio in downtown Manehattan, where Ray Blitz was auditioning. Out of fear for his life, Star hurries to the building to personally rescue him, but quickly gains the support of those with him to carry out a coordinated attack to save those held in the building. The group successfully frees the hostages after a quick gunfight, and both Star and Ray admit their love for each other in front of the rest, despite Star's previous inhibitions. The moment is cut short when Snow Storm informs them of a Marine-led revolt occurring nearby to push Armet's advancing army out of the city. Realizing many civilians are still trapped in the area without any direction, Ray offers to stay put (with Anchorage's protection) and attempt a widespread transmission to order the frightened populace away from the danger. At Joint Base Manehattan, Nightpath wakes up in pain, and Arc Nobis, who was put in solitary confinement after turning himself in, is called back to action by Armet's artificial intelligence and effortlessly breaks out to regroup. In lower Manehattan, Star, his friends, and the rest of the group arrive at ''Homefront, the final defensive line in the city. They prepare for a fight, and are only further motivated when Ray broadcasts his voice to the whole region, warning of the impending danger. GenTech drones advance toward Homefront, where a massive battle ensues. It is then questioned where the signal commanding the drones to attack is originating from, and the L.R.S. Lacus is ordered to launch a tomahawk missile at GenTech Tower to destroy its antenna. However, seeing this did not interrupt the signal, hope diminishes when Vengeance, GenTech's flying warship, lifts off from its launch bay in the harbor and prepares a final attack that would win the war in Armet's favor. Knowing the ship from top to bottom from a previous tour, Shadow volunteers on a potential suicide mission to deliver a flash drive, which would allow Javelin Charm to remotely hack into the ship and disable its weaponry before it can kill millions. Star elects to go with Shadow, and the two fly up and sneak aboard undetected. Their presence aboard Vengeance is soon known, and Star is left to deal with the ship's security as Shadow works to finish the mission. Javelin, finding the encryption in the ship's server farm to be far beyond his hacking capabilities, suggests they try storming the bridge instead. There, they encounter Armet, who reveals himself to have been the one responsible for the Great Gryphon Constitution's attacks the year prior. He uses this as a distraction until Arc Nobis arrives, where Shadow wrestles with him after shooting Armet. Star takes charge in plugging into one of the computers on the bridge, but Javelin is unable to finish from his end due to a large number of drones rapidly closing in on their location, having pushed the Marines back from Homefront some time prior. Furious, Star makes his own attempt to stop the countdown and activates a self-destruct sequence on the ship. Armet bails from the ship as it begins to go down, followed by Star and Shadow soon after. Down on the ground, those fighting watch as Vengeance plummets to the city, crashing through GenTech Tower, before finally exploding violently over the north river, leading to the shutdown of every drone and subsequently putting an end to the battle. Armet lands safely, but is immediately taken into custody by Snow and Zjitzo, who were waiting for him on the ground. In the days after, Star is helping in efforts to rescue ponies trapped in collapsed structures. After a successful save, Hardstaff orders Star to get some rest, having been up for roughly four days straight with no sleep and barely any appetite. Meanwhile, Shadow sulks over the loss of Arc, but is informed by Javelin that his conscience was copied onto his computer when attempting to hack the ship, and the two team up to figure out how to restore Arc's original conscience to his body. After checking on a bedridden Nightpath, Star ventures to find Pastel, who stands amongst the ruins of her business. She informs him that debt will prevent her from reopening, much to Star's disappointment. He offers her one of his uncashed reward checks to help pay for her office, stating that her help is too important to him to lose. Days later, Star speaks to Hardstaff, discussing his transference to Canterlot for a new MOS, and accidentally slips when discussing his special somepony to be a stallion, but Hardstaff plays it off. Later on, Star brings Ray to the flight deck of the Eclipse to watch the sunset, where Star further confesses his feelings. His friends soon show up, and the story ends as Star begins to properly introduce them to Ray - his coltfriend. Characters Main characters *'Star Shooter': Star is a young, dark blue pegasus, and a Lance Corporal (Corporal as of chapter 20) in the 25th Battalion, 4th Marines unit of the New Lunar Marine Corps. He is the main protagonist in which the story takes place from his point of view and, due to the traumatic events of the first story, is emotionally and mentally troubled, especially after the loss of a close friend, Solar Wave. *'Nightpath': Night is a brown draft earth pony from Baltimare. He ranks at Lance Corporal and is in the 25th Battalion, 4th Marines unit of the New Lunar Marine Corps, and is considered Star's best friend, despite their rough start in the first story, originating as an orphan from Baltimare. He specializes in nuclear engineering and is a grunt on the L.R.S Eclipse in the reactor chambers. *'Silver Edge': Silver was a unicorn in the 25th Battalion, 4th Marines unit of the New Lunar Marine Corps and another one of Star's good friends. As of chapter 26, he has transitioned from the Marines to the Lunar Navy and now ranks at Petty Officer 3rd Class. He is a member of the Eclipse's operations room. He originates from Las Haygas and has been interested in meeting his uncle, a Chief Petty Officer aboard the L.R.S. Gibbous. *'Ashfall': Ash is a muscular earth pony and a Corporal in the Lunar Marines, in the 1st Infantry Division, 3rd Marine Regiment. Despite constantly arguing like siblings, he is best friends with Anchorage. Between them, Ash is the most physically built. *'Anchorage': Anchorage is a greyish-white pegasus from Gander Cove, a small island town situated just off the far northeast coast of Equestria. His northern roots and his accent are most notable about him. He is a sailor in the Lunar Navy, ranking at Petty Officer 2nd Class and serving aboard the Eclipse as an engineering technician. His best friend is Ashfall, and the two constantly argue. Between the two, however, Anchorage is the most intelligent. He also has a love for playing ping-pong with his division shipmate, Gallant. *'Shadow': Shadow is the Captain aboard the L.R.S. Eclipse, the largest aircraft carrier in the Lunar Fleet, and is also Star's friend whom inspired him to enlist (and likely talked him into doing). He is also Star's commanding officer underway. The origin of their friendship dates back to Star's first year after moving to Canterlot, where another friend of his introduced him to Shadow. Secondary characters *'Ray Blitz': A pegasus whom Star bumped into in Whitetail Woods in the epilogue of Beginning. The two quickly befriend over the span of just a few months, and Star develops feelings for him which he chooses to keep locked away from his military friends. Ray's dream is to become a radio personality in Equestria, which he continues to pursue through work at stations nation-wide. *'Hardstaff': Hardstaff is a dark blue pegasus, ranking at sergeant in the Lunar Marines. He is the squad leader of the 25th Battalion, 4th Marines unit of the New Lunar Marine Corps, and is Star and Nightpath's squad leader. *'Arc Nobis': Arc is a Second Lieutenant in the Lunar Marines and was Shadow's second-in-command Marine aboard his ship, the L.R.S. Eclipse. Out of everyone by far, he has the most experience in battles and missions, and Arc suffers from multi-personality syndrome created by post-traumatic stress, which can be triggered by total darkness. Arc's alt-ego is cold and looking to kill anyone it sees. He is highly expectant of Star and the rest of his friends, but realizes how well disciplined and trained they are in situations. *'Snow Storm': Snow is a Lieutenant in the Lunar Marines, and leader of a squadron specializing in eliminating cyber threats and real-world ones. His personal belief is that current Lunar Marines do not receive the same amount of training he did at the start of his military career. *'Javelin Charm': Javelin is the communications specialist of Lieutenant Snow Storm's unit. He met Star at the Lunar Marine Officer School (under a poor first impression, but the two later make amends). *'Armet Mace': Armet is a wealthy maroon unicorn and the famed CEO of Generation Technologies Incorporated (GenTech, for short), a major technological company with a recently-constructed headquarters in the city of Manehattan. He is, in a way, an acquaintance to Shadow, although he is not looked at positively by him. *'Aphrodite': Sergeant Major in the Marines, head of the geology office at Joint Naval Station Manehattan, and is Star's "second boss". She wears her mane in a bun. *'Magnus': An earth pony Marine working in Aphrodite's office. *'Argonne Lunis': A unicorn stallion that stands "a few inches taller" than Star. He also works in the geology office, and was given the nickname "Argony". Minor characters *'Solar Wave': The deceased friend of Star and his fellow Marines/sailors, as well as the main concern of Star's post-traumatic stress. He was a yellow unicorn stallion in the 25th Battalion, 4th Marines unit of the New Lunar Marine Corps, having been killed after leaping atop a cooked grenade during the Battle of Manehattan. He is frequently mentioned throughout the story and only seen in flashbacks within Eye of the Storm. *'Rose Shine': Star's upstairs neighbor in Canterlot, working as an intelligence agent for Equestria's government. The two formerly had interest in each other, but a shift in events changed that and the two decided to simply remain friends. *'Star Scraper': Star is a rough, stoic former soldier and is highly expectant of his son and constantly scolded him, and is the primary reason behind Star Shooter running away to begin a new life. *'Diamond Spice': Diamond is a caring, worrisome, average mother that despises Star's decision to leave, but accepts of his decisions. *'Sea Watch': Quartermaster aboard the Eclipse. His rank is finally established in EoTS as Petty Officer 2nd Class. *'Vernon': The Eclipse's bridge communications officer, ranking at Petty Officer 3rd Class. *'Lemoore': Lemoore is a mare sailor who works in CIC on the Eclipse, ranking at Petty Officer 3rd Class. She is revealed as married in chapter 30, and has somewhat of a cold shoulder to Star, under the impression that he is striving to make attempts to flirt with her after their encounter in chapter 30. *'Gallant': Gallant is an earth pony sailor who is in Anchorage's division. He bears some similarities to Solar Wave. Gallant is introduced as 'one of the best ping-pong players on the ship'. *'Tacimo': Tacimo ranked at Senior Chief Petty Officer in the Lunar Navy and Shadow's former boatswain aboard the Eclipse, whom repeatedly clashed with Shadow in arguments regarding orders. *'Doctor Haywalker': Star's base doctor from Beginning and moving into this story. He refers Star to his old acquaintance, Doctor Pastel, to help handle his post-traumatic symptoms. *'Doctor Pastel': Owner of a psychology office in Manehattan whom Star is referred to by Haywalker. Both her and Haywalker previously knew each other and once dated. *'Doctor Davenport': Davenport is a unicorn base doctor at Naval Station Manehattan. *'Skillshot': A soldier Star meets at Fort Fetlock, who is from Appleloosa. *'Sunset Haze': A sergeant in the Lunar Marines, assigned to lead Star and his unit during the 'Crisis' sub-climax. He is part of Ashfall's unit, the 1st Infantry Division, 3rd Marine Regiment. *'Suldur': Suldur is an ambassador of the country of Ajerstan who has a liking for Equestria and wishes to put an end to the conflict. *'Buchard': Buchard is a consul for the country of Ajerstan who holds a strong distaste for Equestria for its past actions. *'Gantry': Gantry is the fleet admiral of the Ajerstanian Navy. *'Flawless Rivet': Flawless is Armet Mace's second-in-command. *'Zjitzo': Zjitzo is a captain of a squadron in the Royal Griffish Army Special Forces and an acquaintance of Snow Storm. He is a griffon from Prance. Canon characters (The following have cameo appearances/minor roles in the story) * Princess Celestia (All Hooves: Part III (mentioned) and Peaceful Measures: Part II and Part III) * Princess Luna (Trials, Summer's Peak, Peaceful Measures: Part II and Part III, and Semper Fidelis) * Princess Cadence (Peaceful Measures: Part II and Part III) * Princess Twilight Sparkle (Peaceful Measures: Part I, II, and III) * Prince Shining Armor (Peaceful Measures: Part III and Into the Eye of the Storm: Part III) Reception Millennia: Eye of the Storm has received mostly positive criticism with 20 likes and 3 dislikes, and has 1,033 views with over 21,000 total chapter views. It is praised as a major improvement of writing in the first-person perspective over Beginning as well as altering perspectives in third-person POV throughout the latter half of the story, along with imagery and world-building (such as sci-fi elements in some chapters), display of emotions in characters, story arc pacing, as well as (unintentionally) having a similar theme/resemblances to Apocalypse Now, but criticized for occasional repetitive use of words and somewhat slow filler chapters. Just like Beginning, despite mass amounts of views, it can be assumed the lower-than-average ratings come from users believing that it is another Lunar Republic-Solar Empire war story and leaving dislikes without reading. As compared to Beginning, Eye of the Storm has received far less ratings but quickly caught up in its view count. Sequel Thunderblast has shown interest in further expanding into a third, and possibly later, a fourth story, stating, "I don't exactly know what I want to do with Millennia. I have ideas to possibly last the series until a fifth story, but I have to decide what is right, and to me, the right thing is conflicting. Side stories would be fun to write, but they don't give the feel of a full-blown book, much like what Beginning and Eye of the Storm are meant to be, and I want to keep this series in a pair or trio of consistent-length stories that build atop one another. I do not want to keep the series going longer than it should with ideas that may be recycled from previous stories, but I don't want to end it prematurely, either." In April 2017, Thunderblast confirmed a third and possibly final story in the Millennia saga to come in the future and stating it will take place "a quite a bit of time after the events of Eye of the Storm". The following month, the third story was confirmed to be titled Millennia: Starfall ''and is due to be published in late 2018 and is expected to be the longest story of the series. On June 12th, it was confirmed that ''Starfall will have 66 chapters total, 24 more than Beginning and 19 more than Eye of the Storm, and is set to introduce many new characters. It was rumored that Starfall might be split up into two equal-length stories, but Thunderblast has since assured that it is not likely in order to maintain a reader base for the whole story. Trivia/Other information *The prologue of Eye of the Storm starts off one week after the epilogue of Millennia: Beginning. **The story quickly became Thunderblast's longest, finishing a whole 120k words longer than its prequel, Beginning. Originally, only 36 chapters were planned, but over the course of two years, 15 more chapters were eventually implemented to accommodate more story. **Chapter 6 was posted at exactly 12:00:00 EDT on January 1st, 2017 in the United States, making it the first story to be updated in the U.S. in 2017. **On September 18th, 2017, Thunderblast lowered the rating of the story from 'mature' to 'teen'. **In October 2017, Thunderblast changed the ideas of chapters 39-41. *Rather than training and introduction to military life (Beginning's plot), Eye of the Storm revolves primarily around Star struggling with combat-related stress, depression, and sexuality acceptance as the primary internal conflicts, as well as a partial continuation of the main conflict of the latter half of Beginning. It is also considered a significant improvement from Beginning in terms of how it is written in first-person POV, and covers inconsistencies overlooked in the first story. **While it is not the first story written by Thunderblast to feature homosexuality, it is the first he has written with an extended relationship of said type, by which the topic recurs throughout most of the story. **''Eye of the Storm's timeline occurs between the months of January (a week after the events of ''Beginning's epilogue) and August 2015. *Characters from The Veins Run Deeper, including Night Shadow, make a brief cameo in chapter 20. *The name of the P.T.S Alder, a tanker ship featured in the story, is derived from the real-life USCG vessel, the Alder, based in Duluth, Minnesota, on Lake Superior. *The name Eye of the Storm is derived from a song from season three of Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, which also centers around neo-futuristic technology. That season of the show is, reportedly, partial inspiration for the setting of this story. *Chapter 47 is the longest chapter Thunderblast has ever written, sitting at 13,274 words, beating his previous record of 12,192 words in chapter 46, 10,292 words in chapter 43, and his first record of 9,744 words (Under the Moonlight). *The story's theme song is Battlefield 4 - A Theme For Kjell, with the secondary theme being Really Slow Motion - Century. Category:Fan fiction